ABOUT J. WAYNE

J. Wayne Fears grew up in the Cumberland Mountains roaming around on a mountain named Tater Knob. His dad was a trapper and an expert woodsman, his mom, a country school teacher. From his dad, he learned to live in the wilds; and from his mom, he obtained a love of the written word. When other kids were playing team sports, J. Wayne was spending days, often alone, trapping, hunting and fishing. At the age of 15, he obtained the rank of Eagle Scout. While in high school he joined the Army National Guard. He could not believe the government would furnish him ammo to shoot. Following high school graduation, he served in the U.S. Army.

After graduating from Auburn University, J. Wayne went to work as a wildlife specialist with the University of Georgia to develop the wildlife resources in a rural test county in South Georgia. The resulting program was published as a feature article in the March 1966 issue of Outdoor Life magazine. This article gave J. Wayne and his work national attention and introduced him to the world of outdoor writing.
The following year, he took a similar job with the Coastal Plain Planning and Development Commission working with nine counties. At the same time, he began writing for outdoor magazines, had a weekly radio program and a syndicated newspaper column.

By 1970, he was in graduate school at the University of Georgia working on his Master’s degree and working with Safari Systems, Inc. which gave him North and South American experience. While in school, he was writing for 11 outdoor magazines.

Since completing his graduate work, he has held a number of wildlife related positions and worked as an explorer. He spent a decade as the chief wildlife manager for Gulf States Paper Corporation. Here he was responsible for the wildlife management and law enforcement on 500,000 acres of forestland, the development of Westervelt Hunting Lodge, big game hunting operations in Colorado, Alaska and British Columbia.

In 1982, he left Gulf States to establish a company called Alabama Backcountry Lodges, Inc, which developed and operated three hunting lodges in Alabama. When the company sold, he became a full time freelance magazine writer and book author. He established a consulting company, Fears & Associates, to do wildlife habitat management and exploration work.

In 1994, Progressive Farmermagazine, the nations oldest and largest farm/ranch magazine asked J. Wayne to work for them as the Editor-in-chief of Rural Sportsman, a wildlife management magazine within Progressive Farmer. He retired from this position in 2005. Soon, he came out of retirement and became the editor-in-chief of Hunting Camp Journal magazine and later Hunt Club Digest.

Currently, he serves as shooting columnist for Turkey Call magazine and writes the back page for GunHunter magazine and Great Days Outdoors magazine. For the past eight years he has written a column for Whitetails Unlimited magazine entitled The Food Plot Doctor. He also freelances to a number of other publications and web sites.

J. Wayne has had over 6,200 magazine articles published and 33 books. He is often a guest on popular outdoor TV programs and is a frequent speaker at outdoor events. Currently he is working on three books.

EDUCATION

B.S. Degree from Auburn University

Master’s Degree from the University of Georgia

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

Journalism

2016 – Best Magazine Short Story – First Place – SEOPA

2015 – Best Outdoor Book – Third Place – SEOPA

2014 – Pinnacle Award – Book – POMA

2013 – Best Outdoor Book Award – First Place – SEOPA

2013 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Book – POMA

2007 – Grits Gresham Communicator of the Year Award – NSSF & POMA

2006 – Best Outdoor Entrepreneur Project – Magazine – SEOPA

2005 – Best Outdoor Book – Third Place – SEOPA

2004 – Best Outdoor Book – First Place – SEOPA

2004 – NWTF Communicator of the Year Award

2002 – Best Outdoor Book – Third Place – SEOPA

1993 – Best Outdoor Entrepreneur Project – Public Relations – SEOPA

1993 – Technical Magazine Article – Second Place – OWAA

1989 – Best Outdoor Book – Second Place – SEOPA

1986 – Best Outdoor Book – Runner-Up – SEOPA

1986 – Anschutz-PSI Outstanding Writer Award

1985 – Best Outdoor Book – Runner-Up – SEOPA

1978 – Best Magazine Article – First Place – SEOPA

1976 – Deep Woodsman of the Year Award – Overall Writing – OWAA

1976 – Deep Woodsman of the Year Award – Newspaper – OWAA

1976 – Buck Knives Writing Award – Newspaper – OWAA

Other Professional Awards

2017 -Inducted into the Legends of the Fly Hall of Fame

2017 – Inducted into the Huntsville/Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame

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